“If China is doing 10 pressurized water reactors a year, there’ll be a big economic incentive to do something better,” said Steve Kidd, head of strategy and research at World Nuclear Association, referring to China’s foray into fourth-generation reactors. “The technology could come earlier than people think, could be 2025.”

State-owned China National Nuclear may start building two 800-megawatt experimental fast reactors around 2013 and operations may start before 2020, said Xu Mi. Fourth-generation technology reactors produce minimal radioactive waste and are fuel efficient.

China plans to master the [breeder] technology by 2020, Liu Jing, the deputy director of nuclear power at China National Nuclear, said in a separate interview. The company has started an “experimental program for the fast-reactor technology for commercial use.”

The nation aims to be able to build fast reactors with a capacity between 1,000 megawatts and 1,500 megawatts each and promote the technology by 2030, said Xu Mi. The fourth- generation plants are aimed at supplementing existing pressurized water reactors because the fast reactors have “noticeable advantage” in uranium use efficiency, he said.

Liu said separately today the company has held talks with Belarus and African states on the possibility of exporting second-generation nuclear plants that can generate 300 megawatts of electricity. “We haven’t made any deals yet,” he said.

China has agreed to build two additional civilian nuclear reactors in Pakistan, the Financial Times reported last month, citing Chinese companies and unnamed government officials in Beijing and Islamabad.

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